


no one stays forever in neverland

by Rcmanov



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Growing Up, NCT Dream - Freeform, Neverland, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 11:10:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15795306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rcmanov/pseuds/Rcmanov
Summary: “You need not be sorry for her. She was one of the kind that likes to grow up. In the end she grew up of her own free will a day quicker than the other girls.”In which Mark grows up and has to leave Neverland.(based on Dear Dream and Peter Pan)





	no one stays forever in neverland

“ _Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting._ ”

They knew this would come.

“So it’s the end, right? This is our last stage.”

He’s on the side of the stage, watching the other groups perform. It’ll be their turn soon. Soon, it’ll be over. He’s met with silence. He doesn’t turn to look at them. He’s not sure he could take it.

He hears a sniffle. Then a small voice.

“Don’t say it,” Renjun says.

 

“ _Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it._ ”

“This unit will only have minor members. Which means you’ll leave in 2 years.”

I nod. 2 years is a long time. We have time. As long as we’re together.

 _I have set my life upon a cast, and I will stand the hazard of the die_.

I’m willing to do it. I’ll throw it all away if only I can get what I’ve also dreamt of. And you were all part of it. All we did, we did together.

 

“ _I suppose it's like the ticking crocodile, isn't it? Time is chasing after all of us._ ”

They’re lying on the cold floor of the practice room, their breathing heavy. Hyuck and Mark. Mark and Hyuck.

“It was you and I, right?” Donghyuck starts. “It was you and I from the beginning.”

“We’re together in 127, don’t be like this.”

Donghyuck ignores him.

“You used to hate me, remember? You said you hated me so much you wanted to leave the company.”

He pauses. Mark can’t see it, but his smile is bitter-sweet.

“Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you did?”

At first, he doesn’t answer. Because, frankly, he has no idea. This was his dream.

“We wouldn’t be here having this conversation.”

He hates himself. He knows what Hyuck wants to hear, what he wants to say.

There’s a long silence.

“I don’t want to leave,” he blurts out. “But I have to.”

He hears Hyuck rolling on his stomach, shuffling briefly and then his head is right above Mark’s.

“It’s okay. We all grow up. We’re all afraid.”

For a second, Mark can’t recognise this Donghyuck. Wise and gentle. He looks at Hyuck’s upside down features. He closes his eyes. He breathes in. Out. In. He opens his eyes again.

“Leaving is terrible, staying is unbearable.”

Donghyuck nods.

“It’ll be our turn too. Soon. Time is chasing after all of us.” A sad smile hovers over Donghyuck’s lips.

He falls down on his back again, his head next to Mark’s. And he adds, his voice suddenly less assured:

“W-we should enjoy it while it lasts. Make memories.”

They lie there for a long time.

 

“ _You know that place between sleep and awake, that place where you still remember dreaming? That’s where I’ll always love you. That’s where I’ll be waiting._ ”

“No.”

“Jisung you can’t-”

“This is bullshit,” he says as he crosses his arm. He blinks a lot and somehow Mark knows he’s fighting back the tears.

His heart skips a beat.

“My first and your last,” Jaemin says tentatively, as a joke. He looks  at Jeno desperately, hoping for a reaction.

His eyes don’t smile.

Chenle stares at the door, that their manager just closed to give them some time. _It’ll never be enough_. Renjun’s eyes are directed at his hands as he fidgets with a pen abandoned on the table.

Hyuck breaks the silence.

“Mark isn’t dying. He’s just moving on.”

There’s a pause.

“You’re too old to play with the kids now,” says Jeno.

 _Deny it_ . _Say you don’t have a choice_.

“I-it’s time, isn’t it?”

 _Fuck off Mark Lee_.

“Yeah, move _on_ Mark Lee. Forget us and grow up.”

And there’s so much hurt and venom in his voice, but how can you blame Jisung when the next second he breaks down crying.

Mark takes him in his arms, receives a small punch and maybe he deserves it before Jisung leans his head in his chest. Mark runs his fingers through the soft hair. He says:

“It was us seven at the start. I’ll never forget.”

Then, softly:

“I’ll write it down, I’ll bookmark it. I won’t forget a thing.”

 _Dream of us_. I will.

 

“ _Just always be waiting for me._ ”

“Five minutes.”

“I can’t believe it’s really happening,” Chenle whispers.

“Tell me this isn’t true,” Jisung adds.

“I-” his voice wavers. “I don’t want it to sound like I’m about to depart.”

“B-but it’s time,” Jaemin says. “Time to leave Neverland.”

And he can hear the tears in their voices and he can feel the tears in his eyes and his throat is so tight. _Breathe_. I can’t.

He finally turns to face them and maybe it’s not a good idea because he can’t afford to cry and ruin his makeup. Again.

And for them he tries, he tries to paint a smile over the pain in his heart. It doesn’t convince anyone but at least he tries. It’s always been like that.

“I- I wanted you to know. If I could turn back time.”

He pauses, tries to get air to his lungs.

“I’d do it all over again. With no hesitation.”

Renjun crashes into him, wraps his arms around his chest, hugs as tight as he can.

“I can’t believe this is the end.”

“It isn’t.”

“It won’t be the same.”

 _We’ve all changed, more than we’d like to admit_. One by one, they join in the embrace.

“It will be. This is where it started,” he starts. Pauses. Resumes.

“It will be the seven of us, in the end.”

_Goodbye is only for those who love with their eyes, because for those who love with a heart and soul there is no separation._

He hugs them tight, the tightest he can.

“If it’s not us, then who?”

  
  
  


_“But the years came and went without bringing the careless boy; and when they met again Wendy was a married woman, and Peter was no more to her than a little dust in the box in which she had kept her toys.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it, please leave a kudo and/or a comment to tell me what you thought of it!  
> [buy me a coffee!](http://ko-fi.com/rcmanov)  
> I posted this on twitter as well, you can follow me on there [@kygotseven](https://twitter.com/kygotseven)  
> Come cry with me over NCT Dream!


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